Starting Photoshop

If you’ve worked with computers before, you’re probably familiar with the different methods for firing up software programs. To start Photoshop, you can either:

Double-click the Adobe Photoshop icon on your desktop.

Select Programs ▶Adobe from your Start menu.

A submenu displays, listing all your Adobe programs. Select Photoshop from this submenu. After starting Photoshop, the splash screen displays.

The Splash Screen

You’ll see a bunch of little messages and files display. These are fonts and plug-ins loading into the software. Loading these files can take a while, so it’s the perfect time to start making a fresh pot of coffee. After the splash screen goes away, the Photoshop workspace displays.

Tip

Photoshop needs memory…more than 384 MB of RAM (or random-access memory) as recommended by Adobe. If your computer displays a message saying it’s out of memory, try quitting some other programs that may be currently running or, if that doesn’t work, try restarting your computer. If all else fails, you may need to add some more memory.

If you’re not sure how to add memory, any computer store will be more than happy to help.